Leonard coleman



L. COLEMAN.

Revolving-Harrow.

Patented Aug. 13, 1867.

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LEONARD COLEMAN, OF NE /V ORLEANS, LOUlSlANA, ASSlGNOR TO lVlLLlS P.COLEMAN, OF THE SAME PL'A CE.

Letters Patent No. 67,634, dated August 13, 1867.

HARROWS.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, LEONARD COLEMAN, of the city of New Orleans. parishof Orlcnns, and State oi Louisione, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Revolving Hui-rows; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a, full, clear, and exact description of the some,reference being had to the annexed drawing, making a port of thisspecification, in whieh- Figure 1 is a top view of my invention, end tFigure 2 a sectional view, the line of bisection running from thcl'rontto the rcnr oi the machine.

My invention consists of two series of revolving disks with projectingtcetlror spikes around their perimeters, each disk revolvingindependently or separately from all the others, in combination with a,system oi levers and other mechanical appliances for elevating andlowering both series of disks accordingly as circumstances may requirean elevation or depression of the some. In consequence of the sticky orglue-like nature and consistency of the soil in many parts of the UnitedStates, but especially in the volley of the Mississippi river and in thebottoms of the great tributaries of the Mississippi, the agriculturisthas been there beset hitherto with almost insuperuble obstacles to theefficient and successful prosecution of his labors, because of the wantof a. machine that would break up and siillicieutly pulvorize the largelumps or clods of earth that are thrown up in the process of ploughing.The ordinary revolving and dragJm-rrows, usually found suilicicnt inbreaking up the clods in lighter or sandier soils, produce no effectwhateverupon the immense and very coherent clods in question, and hencethe great economic importance of my invention, which repeated experimenthas demonstrated to be fully capable of accomplishing the completereduction or pulvcriznt-ion of the said clods; but my invention will hemore fully understood by referring to the drawings. I

B B B represent a series of revolving disks from whose perimetersproject the teeth or spikes us. These disks are separate from oneanother, as is clearly shown by the minute lines 6 6 between them, butthey all revolve upon" the some axle A Behind the series B B B on sxleA"is another series of disks 0 C O, precisely corresponding in allparticulars of operation and constructionivith the scricsB B B. Theaxles A and A are confined within and supported by the frame J, which isplaced upon wheels G, and connected thereto by means oi" the slidingstandards K, to which are attached the axles of the said wheels G. Theslidingstondords K are connected by pivot joints to the levers E, whosefulcro, are nt 0, and which are operated by the arms T on rock-shaft Nby means of the handles F. The standards K are kept in place by the jawsL, which are so formed as to overlap theedges thereof, that is to say,the jaws L prevent any lntcratl motion of the standards K, but at thesome time allow them to move up and dowh within given limits. To thesestandards, as before stated, the short axles of the wheels G areattached, and the frame J, being also connected thereto, it follows thatwhenever the standards are elevated or depressed by the action of thelever E, a corresponding' movement takes place of the whole system ofdisks. The two series of disks overlap each other, and being so adjustedas that their sides nearly touch, the front series B B B is continuallyfreed of all such earth as from the coherent nature thereof may cling tothem, and thus no clog 'ing or stoppage of the machine from this causecun'possibly occur. The overlapping is greater than the length of theteeth, so that all the earth that may adhere to the disks B B B will betaken off. The rear series 0 C C is freed of adhering earth by the fixedclearcrs D D D, which project, it will be observed, and fill up nearlyall the space between them almost to their axis. By means of the handlesF, rock-shaft N, arm T, and lever E the borrows are raised up atpleasure above the ground, and thus the machine may be carried fromfield to field with the some case as if it were an ordinary cart orwagon. Whilst it is in operation the machine requires, of, course, to bedrawn backward oud'forwztrd over the field, and in order that this maybe done it must be turned around as often as the field is traversed byit: In turning it around it is necessary to throw up the barrows, sothat their teeth will be above the surface of the ground, for with theteeth deep in the ground, owing to the great weight of the machine, theoperation of turn ing would severely strain the horses and the machine,and perhaps break the latter.

The penetration of the teeth into the ground when the machine isZLlZ'WOlk ought to be nearly as great its the length of the teeth, andhence the mechanical contrivztnces which regulate this matter in ust beconstructed with reference to that depth of penetration, as well as insuch a manner, also, as certainly to secure the elevation of the pointsof the teeth above the ground whenever occasion shall require such anelevation to be made. In stony ground it may become necessary tointerpose a collar or washer of India. rubber between the disks in orderto secure a sufficient yielding to prevent breakage in the event a stoneshould bejammed between any two of them, as might sometimes happen. Ifcircumstances should make it desirable or necessary to reduce the weightof the machine, spoke-wheels or open-work disks may be substituted inplace of the solid disks shown on the drawings, but whenever the machineis constructed for use in the valley of the Mississippi river, or anyother locality in which a similar kind of soil obtains, great weight isnecessary in order to make the machine thoroughly ellicient, and hence,for such soils, the solid disk form is in my opinion the very best thacan be adopted. The machine may bedrawn by the chains H, or an ordinarytongue, or any other suitable means for the attaching of the horses ormules, may be used instead thereof.

The advantage of having each disk separate from and independent, so faras its revolution is concerned,

from all the others, is very great, and this separationieonstitutes thepoint of chief merit in myinvention, the

efiect being to diminish the power that is required to work the machinetoan extent equal to fully one-half of what is necessary as to a machinein which the disks are connected together and revolve simultaneously.This I have demonstrated by repeated experiments, and the reason is thatonly those disks that are actually engaged in a clod offer anyconsiderable resistance to the forward movement of the machine, andhence they are force to revolve slower, whilst thus engaged, than theothers. This, it is plain, would not be the case in a machine in whichall the disks are connected, and by reason thereof compelled to revolveat the same rate of speed. In my experiments I have found from ten totwelve disks on each axle to be about the proper number for a machinedesigned for two horses or mules, but obviously the number may beincreased or diminished accordingly as the nature of the soil may vary,orthe machine be intended for a greater or less number of animals. Halfthenumber of disks, if the machine is to be drawn by a single mule orhorse, and is constructed for use in heavy soils, would probably be notfar from the mark.

In the operation of my machine it is simply drawn across the field to beharrowed until every portion of it has been traversed and the reductionof the clods is complete.

Having thus fully described my invention and its mode of operation, whatI claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

' 1. The combination of the two series of revolving disks B and C C G,or their equivalents, when the same are constructed and arrangedsubstantially as described for the purpose set forth.

2. The two series ot'revoiving disks B B B and C G, in combination withthe sliding standards K, lever E, arm '1, rock-shaft N, handles F, andframe J, when these several partsare constructed and arranged withrespect to each other and to the clcarers D D D as described for thepurpose set forth.

I L. COLEMAN.

Witnesses:

CALVIN BYRON, Rurus R. Rnonns.

